


Make it through the Night

by cresscaptain



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Minor Violence, Self-Sacrifice
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-18
Updated: 2017-01-20
Packaged: 2018-09-18 09:54:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,897
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9379313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cresscaptain/pseuds/cresscaptain
Summary: After a lifetime of imagining how someone would declare his love to her, she'd never imagined it involved werewolf and a deadly wound.





	1. Whomping Willow

So he hadn't changed. Arsehole.

She crunched her teeth when she saw the group move from the school ground. Stupid teenage boys, still breaking rules, but just that. Stupid boys.

Not him. He was head boy and he had said, promised, that he wouldn't break any more rules. It was obvious it really meant nothing to him.

Well, she wasn't having it. Not caring that she was still in her nightgown, she slammed the window so loud she thought they would hear her. They didn't. She pulled a face at them, even though they couldn't see her.

She didn't bother with a jumper, rushing through the halls. For a fleeting second, she was scared that Filch or Mrs. Norris would find her, but no one stopped her as she left the castle in the same direction as the faithless bastard. The lake was large on her left side, mirroring the full moon in the sky, but they were heading in a different direction.

The cold air came over her with full force as a cold wind hit her right in the face. She shivered, willing herself to ignore it like her chattering teeth.

Looking around, she panicked. It was dark, the forbidden forest in front of her and she couldn't locate them directly. Then she found them, crossing through only a small part of the forbidden forest toward her before stopping and staying right where they were.

Remus wasn't with them, obviously. He was much better than any of them. Peter being there surprised her a little, though. She thought he wasn't brave enough to go into the forbidden forest at night, especially after the Ministry announced precaution at Hogwarts. With Dumbledore as Headmaster, as well as a lot of vulnerable children people feared for, Hogwarts was an obvious target in this war.

Surprisingly, the boys just stood there, staring at their feet or something, not really talking. What were they doing?A  
No matter, she needed to tell all of them.

"Potter!" She screamed from afar, though she reached him within a few seconds, cursing the fact that she was out of breath. Potter, the idiot, turned around at the sound of her voice and his eyes widened when he saw her.

"Lily," he stammered, running his hand through his hair. Good, she thought, he was nervous. He should be. "Lily," he repeated. "What in Merlin's name are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same question, you know." She crossed her hands in front of her chest, resting her case. "What happened to no rule-breaking because you are head boy?"

Potter went dangerously white, but Black interfered before he could speak. "OK, Evans, you made a show. You can tell James off later. Now go."

Black hardly ever called Potter James. It was always some kind of nickname. Something was going on, she decided. Maybe something bigger than a prank.

"What is happening?" She was cautious with her question, not willing to back down. She was in the right, after all.A  
Black let out a groan. "Back off, Evans. Now."

"No," she said, lifting her head up. "If Remus," Potter's head snapped around toward the forbidden forest and she frowned, momentarily distracted, before continuing, "Well, if Remus can make himself follow the rules, you should be able to, too."A  
Black barked a short laugh. "You have no idea what is going on, do you, Evans?" She glared at him before focusing on Potter again. It was OK for Black to break the rules, he hadn't promised her that he wouldn't.

The cold wind was shifting through the trees and blew right into her face, making her shiver again. Potter instantly stretched out a hand toward her before retracting it. She raised her eyebrows at him before shivering even more. It was growing colder by the minute. Goosebumps had risen on her arms and she wrapped them around herself in an attempt to keep the cold away.

A low growl made the hair in the back of her neck stand. It was coming from the edge of the forest, and it grew louder. All three boys had turned their head toward the noise.

Black's gasp broke the silence and slowly the source of the growl stepped out of the forest.

The beast was gigantic, still growling. He was clearly sizing up the prey.

She had frozen up, but her brain was working in overdrive.

Full moon. Full moon. A fifth year Remus, fellow Prefect telling her his deepest secret she had already guessed. His best friends who, though they were all arseholes, always supported him.

A full moon.

The beast (she refused to think of him as Remus) was charging forward. Potter reacted first, pulling out his wand and sending a spell that seemed to momentarily confuse it, but then it was back, racing toward Potter. No spell could stop a werewolf.

"Lily!" Potter was screaming at her, his eyes finding her while racing toward the beast. "Lily! Run!"

She nodded dumbly, staring as Potter ran away from Hogwarts, leaving the werewolf chasing after him.

"Get help!" Black's eyes were wide and frantic. "We can't keep it back for long, get help! Get Dumbledore!"

Dumbledore. He was probably able to contain it, he had to.

She backed away from the forest, racing faster than she ever had, away from the terror in the making.

She ran through the halls, ignoring Mrs. Norris who was standing in a deserted classroom, ignoring Peeves who was cackling to himself, just running until she reached Dumbledore's office. The gargoyle looked at her curiously. She could have slapped herself for having no idea what the password was.

"Please," she urged. "This is an emergency!"

The gargoyle shrugged. She huffed at him, irritated.

"Fine, don't know. Chocolate? Something sweet? Er...Butterbeer?"

The gargoyle nodded and proceeded to let her into the office. She thanked Merlin for obviously wanting to let the boys live a little longer.

She burst into the office. Slughorn, as well as McGonagall were standing there with Dumbledore, staring at her in shock.A  
"Miss Evans?" McGonagall raised one eyebrow. "What on earth is the matter?"

She was breathing heavily, but still tried to speak the words. There was no time to lose.

"Remus," she gasped. "The beast – it's attacking. The beast, I don't know how it got out, but it's going to kill – it's going to kill."

Dumbledore had gone white during her speech. He was frowning.

"An attack," he said. "I suspected it would happen sooner or later. Come on. There's no time to lose."

He stretched out his arms, grabbing her and Slughorn. McGonagall reached out and took his shoulder and a second later the cold air of the lake surrounded them, the air colder than it had felt when she had first come out.

"There," she gasped, pointing toward the forest. The beast was nowhere to be seen, but she could see someone running.A  
Quickly, all four of them rushed toward the place. For a moment, she was worried all three boys had been killed, but then she saw Black's mop of black curls rush in their direction.

"James," he gasped. "He's tearing apart James – Oh God..."

Dumbledore had moved before Black could say anything else, raising his wand. McGonagall immediately copied the motion and suddenly Lily could see the beast tearing away at something, then being torn off the human form and smashing into a tree, falling back unconscious.

For a moment, time froze.

Then Sirius started screaming.

It was a mindless scream, more of a howling. Dumbledore was running toward the thing the beast had bent over while it was still conscious.

It was Potter, only it wasn't Potter.

He was on his side, but that did nothing to hide that his chest had been torn open. All she could do was stare.A  
She had never seen Sirius look so wild, his hair tousled and his eyes full of disbelief, refusing to believe what was right in front of him. She had never seen Dumbledore look so hopeless, bending over James Potter's bloody, torn and lifeless body, frantically searching for a heartbeat, anything.

"St Mungo's," McGonagall said to Dumbledore in a strong voice. "I'll take him, you take care of them."A  
Dumbledore's shoulders sagged. "I think it might be too late for that," he whispered, but McGonagall shook her head, grabbing Potter's – James' – arm and vanished with a pop.

The beast didn't move in the whole time Dumbledore moved him. Neither did anyone else.


	2. Dumbledore's Office

Lily had read hundreds of books in the medical field, as nearly every job at the Ministry of Magic required a certain training skill. Every one of them had warned about people going into shock. It didn’t matter if they were the person injured or just an innocent bystander, the shock was deadly, but it always had been the least of Lily’s concerns. She had rather concentrated on the interesting texts about how to treat spell wounds and flesh wounds, as she deemed that a lot scarier than just the stupid shock.

Oh, how wrong she had been.

In that moment, as all the color, no all life, drained from Sirius Black’s face, she noticed how powerful the shock was.  
Sirius was, if she wanted to admit it or not, one of the most powerful people she knew. She had heard the stories about his family. At first, she had scoffed at them. There must be a reason why Black was so spoiled, surely his family was wealthy and put him on the highest stool ever.

No such thing.

She had seen the encounters between him and his brother; him and his cousins. She had heard the story Andromeda, a girl who had been Head Girl when Lily was in First Year. She had seen her a few times after, with the Hufflepuff Head boy, having insults thrown at her head by various Black family members. That’s when she had first admitted it, Sirius was strong.  
And now not.

He fell to the ground, a mass of bones and muscle and meat, with no strength to hold it all together. He pressed his face into the ground, maybe smelling the soil, maybe feeling nothing at all.

Dumbledore was with him in an instant. “What is it, Sirius, are you hurt? Did he... did it hurt you?”

Sirius stared up at Dumbledore with large, blank eyes. Behind him, Peter whimpered.

After quickly scanning both boys and Lily for injury and finding nothing, Dumbledore helped Sirius to his feet. He stumbled and Lily stretched out her hand to catch him, but he recoiled.

“Don’t touch me.” 

The words were clear as day, the meaning clear. She took a deep breath and stepped back. Peter reached for her arm. She smiled at him weakly. He needed the support.

A young boy in his pajamas saw them walk past. He gasped at the sight of Sirius’ blood-trenched clothes.   
James’ Blood.

Dumbledore quietly told him to go back to his room. Peter grabbed her arm tighter. 

Finally, they reached the office. “Butterbeer,” Dumbledore said to the gargoyle, who nodded respectfully.

In the office, Sirius collapsed on a chair without Dumbledore’s support. Peter let go of Lily’s arm and sat down, too. Dumbledore nodded to another chair, but Lily shook her head. She couldn’t find the strength.  
Dumbledore sat down in the chair he had offered. It made a screeching sound as it scraped over the ground and Peter flinched, but Sirius didn’t even look up.

Dumbledore cleared his throat. “I know this is not a good time, but I need to know what you were doing with Remus there. We have had a conversation like this before, you know that he is a werewolf, and, as you are all very good friends, I suspect you also know that today is the full moon.”

Peter shuffled for an answer.

“We... we were bringing him there, like every full moon. We know there is not much to do, but we just like to let him know that he is not alone.”

“Of course,” Dumbledore said, nodding. “You, Lily?”

Lily looked up. She opened her mouth to give the reason, but it seemed so petty now. Why had she gone after them? She had known that tonight was the full moon, so why? She should have known that James would have a reason.

She shrugged helplessly, tears burning in her eyes.

Dumbledore leaned forward. “I brought... it back into the Shrieking Shag. Someone had broken open the door.”

For the first time, Slughorn spoke up. “Someone did this on purpose?”

Dumbledore nodded. “I suspect so. It was actually a really good idea. Open the shaft with the werewolf in, have a massacre when he gets into the school, and the headmaster who let him into the school is at fault. Easy. Causes terror in your own ranks, along with murder.”

“Remus... is a good person,” Lily rasped out. When did her throat get so dry?

“I have no doubt that Mr. Lupin has an excellent character, Lily,” Dumbledore said. “I just don’t think he’s that agreeable as a werewolf, but I also don’t believe that’s his fault. Indeed, he’s kept a very optimistic attitude through it all. Other men have failed at it.”

Lily nodded slowly, biting her lip hard. She should have known that Dumbledore didn’t doubt Remus’ character.  
In that instant, the floo burned up, and Professor McGonagall stepped into the room.  
For the first time, Sirius looked up.

McGonagall also had blood stains down her robe. For the first time, Lily became aware of just how much blood James had lost since the attack. In McGonagall’s eyes, there was a look of defeat, opposing to the stormy fight across her features.   
Dumbledore got up. “Minerva, how is he?”

McGonagall smiled briefly. The look of defeat rested. “Not good. They checked him. They are keeping him alive.”  
Her bottom lip quivered and her voice shook as she spoke again.

“We should call in the Potters. For last... goodbyes.”

Dumbledore inhaled sharply. Slughorn fell back against the bookshelf in surprise. Peter sank forward. Sirius jumped up. All the life had suddenly returned to his eyes, but they didn’t look like him. They didn’t have the mischief spark in them, instead clouding over with something it took a minute for her to recognize.

Hate.

“This is your fault!” His voice was rising, accusation stapling every word. “Why did you have to come after us?”

He crossed the room until he was directly in front of Lily. “Why? We could have held it, but you... running for help, it wanted to follow you, it wanted you most.”

Dumbledore stepped away from his desk. “Sirius, Lily is not at fault. It attacked James on his own accord -”

“Like hell! James threw himself in front of it, because it wanted to attack Lily, and he’d rather die than see that happen, how can you not see?”

McGonagall stepped in now. Lily wished she would let it go. “Now, Mr Black, I doubt that it was like that. I’m sure it was in accident. Besides, what reason would Mr Potter have to go into attack so blindly for a person he barely knows?”  
Sirius’ head dropped. His next words were barely audible. “Because he is in love with her.”

“I’m sorry?”

His head whipped up. “Because he loves her more than life itself! All those years... all those detentions about harassing Lily Evans, you telling him to just let this stupid joke go, and all the while he loved her! You may say this is not true, but then you don’t know him, you haven’t heard him go on and on about her for hours, never shutting up about her, never, even if he tried, getting even remotely attracted to another girl.”

He closed his eyes and, as he reopened them, they were filled with desperation. “Did you know, Lily, that he asked his mother for her engagement ring in fucking first year? He told her that he had met the girl he loved and wanted to marry and that he wanted to keep it, just in case the opportunity might arise? Even back then, for some reason, he wanted to spend his entire life with you. And you know what? He never grew out of it. He still wants you. And now he will die for you, just as he would have wanted it. His life for yours.”

And just like that, Sirius was done. He dropped down to the floor, heaving in silent sobs.

McGonagall stood frozen, mid-step. Slughorn looked like his eyes were going to pop out of his head. Only Dumbledore didn’t look surprised one bit. Peter looked more surprised by Sirius’s sudden outburst.

Silent tears rolled down Lily’s cheeks. She didn’t know why. Maybe because now, she had proof that she had been too harsh when judging James Potter, and now it was too late. He was going to die.

“I’m sorry,” she mouthed at Sirius, sinking down beside him.

“That’s the worst thing,” Sirius stated unhappily. “I can’t even be mad at you. James wouldn’t want it.”

They stared at each other for a few more moments. Then Sirius cleared his throat.

“This sucks,” he stated. Lily nodded.

And then, without knowing how exactly it happened, they were hugging.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the people who left Kudos & Comments! (To all others, subtle reminder to do so.)

**Author's Note:**

> Please read and review. I'll try and upload regularly if anyone cares.


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